Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) expressed that he believes Curtis Sliwa, the Republican candidate in New York City’s mayoral election, cost him “the election.”
During an interview on 77 WABC radio station, Cuomo described Sliwa as being “a total fraud for decades.” Cuomo also declared that if Sliwa had not run, he “would’ve won” the election over now-Mayor-Elect Zohran Mamdani (D).
Speaking with former New York Gov. David Paterson (D), the two spoke about the NYC mayoral election. Paterson admitted that he had “never heard” of Mamdani’s name until February and questioned how Mamdani was “able to do what he did.”
“I always believed he [Sliwa] would drop out because there was no way for him to win,” Cuomo said. “All he could do is be a spoiler and be responsible for Zohran’s victory. I couldn’t believe that as a Republican, he would … could live with himself and the Republicans could live with him as the person who elected Zohran, which is exactly what happened.”
“If he had dropped out, I would have won, I’m convinced,” Cuomo added. “Because I would have gotten that seven, I would’ve been about a point from Zohran, but it would have changed the whole dynamic.”
Cuomo continued to accuse Sliwa of being out there “with the clown show,” spending more time criticizing Cuomo than Mamdani. Referencing how Paterson said the radio station was receiving calls from Sliwa’s relatives, claiming Sliwa had not received equal time, Cuomo pointed out that WABC and radio host Sid Rosenberg “made Sliwa” and “gave him tremendous coverage.”
“Again, talking about election coverage — nobody ever mentioned that Sliwa has been a total fraud for decades,” Cuomo said. “I think Sid Rosenberg was still in Florida when it turned out that the Guardian Angels and Sliwa made up a whole raft of stories of rescues that they did, that turned out not to be true — that Sliwa said he was kidnapped by the New York Police Department and held, and then admitted that wasn’t true.”
Cuomo added, “I believe he cost me the election,” and stated that if Sliwa had not run, he would have won the election.
Cuomo’s comments come after Mamdani, a democratic socialist, won the city’s mayoral election over his opponents. Breitbart News reported that Mamdani’s win came after “consistent polling” showed him leading in the election.
According to CNN, Mamdani received 50.4 percent of the vote, while Cuomo received 41.6 percent of the vote. Sliwa received 7.1 percent of the vote.
Prior to the mayoral election, Sliwa was reported to have melted down during an interview with 77 WABC after he was warned by Rosenberg that he would lose the election.
“So far, you’ve been on this show for eight minutes, and all you’ve talked about is Cuomo,” Rosenberg said at the time to Sliwa. “And, I know you hate him, and I’m going to be honest with you, Curtis — because we’ve been friends for a long time — I don’t feel like you’re running against Mamdani anymore.”
